HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (14-19, 2-4 SAC) split a pair of extra-inning games against the Coker Cobras (11-20-1, 2-4 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference softball action on Saturday afternoon at Dorothy Neely Field. Lincoln Memorial captured a 4-3 win in eight innings in game one before Coker returned the favor with a 6-5 win in eight innings in game two.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action on Tuesday, March 29, when they host the Tusculum Pioneers for a SAC twinbill beginning at 2 p.m. in Harrogate.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 4, Coker 3 (8 innings)
 
Sophomore right-hander Brianna Taylor (Ooltewah, Tenn.) held the Cobras without a hit for five innings while the Lady Railsplitters built a 3-0 advantage. But a costly error opened the door and allowed Coker to tie the game in the top of the sixth. However, Lincoln Memorial would overcome that late letdown and take game one by scoring a walk-off win in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Taylor picked up the win for the Lady Railsplitters after tossing a complete game, allowing just two hits and three unearned runs over eight innings of work. She struck out three and walked just one during that stretch.
 
BriAnna Schrimpf (Chandler, Ariz.) led the charge for Lincoln Memorial, accounting for three of the team's seven hits while driving in three runs. She finished 3 for 3 in the contest with a double. Savannah Couch (Colonial Heights, Va.) went 1 for 2 with a double and scored two runs, while Jennifer Moose (Statesville, N.C.) drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth frame.
 
Tabitha Allen made the start for the Cobras, surrendering five hits and two earned runs over four innings of work. Augusta Jackson was saddled with the loss after relinquishing two hits and an earned run in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
 
The Lady Railsplitters jumped in front right from the get go, as Couch led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a single back up the middle by Schrimpf.
 
Lincoln Memorial went quietly in the second frame, but added to its lead in the bottom of the third, as Ashlea Hunter (Woodruff, S.C.) drew a lead-off walk and came around to score on a two-out base knock by Schrimpf.
 
Schrimpf was back at it again in the bottom of the fifth frame, driving in her third run of the game with a two-out double, which scored Couch, who reached earlier in the inning on a walk.
 
Up until the sixth inning, the lone blemish on Taylor's stat ledger was a walk and a hit by pitch in the top of the third, as Coker had yet to record a hit in the game. But the Cobras' first batter in the sixth reached via an infield error, which proved costly, as Coker fought back to tie the game with two outs in that frame. Tayler Barcomb put the Cobras on the board with a two-out single, while Maria Williamson hit a two-run home run in the next at-bat to draw the game even at 3-3.
 
The Lady Railsplitters had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Hunter singled, stole second and reached third on a throwing error. However, a pop out and a lineout ended the inning and sent the game into extras.
 
Taylor worked out of the top of the eighth unscathed, while Moose helped the Lady Railsplitters notch the walk-off victory in the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice fly out to right field.
 
Game Two: Coker 6, Lincoln Memorial 5 (8 innings)
 
The Lady Railsplitters and Cobras went to extra innings again after the Coker rallied to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning. Lincoln Memorial then fell behind 6-3 after Coker hung up a three-spot in the top of the eighth and couldn't quite overcome that deficit in a 6-5 loss.
 
Kristen McAndrew (Belmont, N.C.) led the way for the Lady Railsplitters by going 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. Allie Jones (Ooltewah, Tenn.) hit a two-run home run to nearly help Lincoln Memorial pull out the late come-from-behind victory. Couch, Moose and Meredith Johnson (Kenly, N.C.) also added hits in the contest.
 
Samantha Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) was stuck with the hard-luck loss for the Lady Railsplitters, falling to 4-6 on the season after allowing seven hits and three earned runs over eight innings of work.
 
Jackson rebounded from the loss in game one by picking up the win in game two, holding the Lady Railsplitters to just one hit and one earned run in three innings of relief. She improves to 5-3 on the season. Ashley Gallman led the way offensively for the Cobras by going 2 for 3 with two RBI and a run scored.
 
Gallman put the Cobras ahead early in the top of the first inning, as she drove in Mindy North, who led off the frame with a double.
 
Coker then tacked a run onto its lead in the top of the second, when Makayla Shore singled and scored on a base hit by Courtney Boan.
 
The Lady Railsplitters would cut the Cobras' lead in half in the bottom of the second frame, as Moose led off with a single and scored on a two-out hit from McAndrew.
 
The score would hold steady at 2-1 in favor of the Cobras until the bottom of the fifth, when the Lady Railsplitters scored twice to catapult into the lead. McAndrew led off that inning with a single and scored on a double by Couch, while a fielding error allowed Couch to score and put the Lady Railsplitters ahead 3-2.
 
The Cobras answered right back in the top of the sixth inning, though, as Gallman singled and later scored on a foul out in right field.
 
Lincoln Memorial went quietly in the bottom of the sixth, while neither team could muster any offense in the seventh frame, sending the game into extra innings.
 
In the top of the eighth, the Cobras piled up three runs to take a commanding 6-3 lead. Gallman brought the tie-breaking score in with a sac fly, while Maria Williamson drove in two runs with a double.
 
Jones cut the Cobras' lead to 6-5 by leading off the bottom of the eighth with a two-run home run, but two straight foul outs and a pop out prevented the Lady Railsplitters from doing any further damage and ended the game.